Why a Cash Flow Projection Can Keep Your Business Alive
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NOTE: scroll down to the end of this article to download a complimentary Excel file, including a cash flow projection template for you to use
The Importance of Cash Flow Projections
Cash is king. It’s the lifeblood of every business. Without cash flow, it becomes impossible for a company to pay employees, order inventory, or make financing payments. Unfortunately, cash flow isn’t always consistent or easy to predict.
One useful tool for predicting cash flow is a cash flow projection, which is a tool that business owners or managers can use to estimate revenue, expenses, and cash balances over time. A cash flow projection allows a business owner to see a cash crunch before it happens. It will enable the owner to make necessary changes to keep the business running smoothly.
How to Build a Cash Flow Projection
A cash flow projection is one of the easier bookkeeping documents to build and maintain. There are no complicated accounting or tax principles involved. The only ingredients in a cash flow projection are how much cash you have, how much you plan to receive, and how much you plan to spend.
A cash flow projection can be kept in any form you find appropriate. However, an Excel spreadsheet is often the most convenient method.
The first step in building the projection is determining the time intervals you want to track. Most projections are done monthly, but you can use any interval. Quarterly is probably the most extended length of time you’d like to follow. If your cash flows are very unpredictable or you are already in a cash crunch, you may want to tighten your time frame and keep track of cash flow weekly.
Let’s assume we will use monthly intervals to project our cash flows for the upcoming year. We would enter all 12 months along the top row of our spreadsheet. In the first column, we’d break down our main categories: opening balance, revenue, expenses, and ending balance.
Starting with January, we will enter the opening balance of our cash on hand. This may be cash in any bank account and cash physically held at your business. We would then list and add in all expected revenues for January. By adding revenues to our opening cash balance, we come up with the total cash available in January.
Next, we would list our expected expenses. These should be anything that will be paid by cash, including payroll, accounts payable, taxes, debt payments, and insurance. We then subtract the total expenses from our revenues and open the cash balance.
That calculation gives us our end-of-month balance. If our ending balance exceeds our beginning balance, we have accumulated cash during the month. If the ending balance is less than the opening balance, we’ve spent more than we’ve brought in. If our ending balance is negative, we are out of money and must take action to cover the deficit.
For planning purposes, you can use each month’s ending balance as the starting balance for the next month. As you move through the year, you’ll change these numbers to reflect the balances. However, estimating them for the entire year will allow you to predict cash crunches and plan for cash flow financing accordingly.
Why a Cash Flow Projection is Vital to Your Business
Ideally, your ending balances would grow every month. That would indicate consistency and profitability. Unfortunately, that’s not always the business case. You may have a considerable, unexpected expense one month or a significant customer fall through at the last minute. These things happen.
By planning and projecting your cash flow, you can take the actions necessary to keep your business running. If your business is in danger of running a deficit one month, you could use that information to fund the deficit beforehand.
You may need to cut back on expenses in the months leading up to the deficit. It’s easier to spread cutbacks over several months than to try and budget for the deficit in one month.
You could also pursue financing for your operations. You’ll find it easier to obtain financing at reasonable terms if you do it ahead of time rather than trying to do it at the last minute.
No business should go under because the owner didn’t see a cash crunch coming. A cash flow projection can help you look into the future and predict rough spots for your business. By taking action now, you could save yourself and your business later.